


Worth Fighting For

by Angelchexmex



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Naruto
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Possessive Behavior, Protection, Protective Harry Potter, kind of sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 22:18:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16543349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelchexmex/pseuds/Angelchexmex
Summary: Lee was Harry's everything and he'd do anything to protect him.Harry's was Lee's life, and he'd do anything to keep him safe.It's just unfortunate they both have different ideas of what that means.





	Worth Fighting For

**Author's Note:**

> This one is for ViviCatLover, I have no idea if this is what you were thinking of when you said Harry Potter reincarnated into Naruto but this is what came to mind so I hope you like it at least a little bit. I would have done something with Wildbow's Worm but I've never read it so it would have taken me ages to get it out, sorry :c
> 
> Either way please enjoy everyone! And leave me feedback. Do you like the ending? I'm a little iffy on it myself, I wanted to convey something specific but I think I failed a bit on that.

The first time Harry meets Rock Lee he is three years old and freezing and Lee, well he’s just a baby and also very cold. So, Harry does the only thing he can and picks up the tiny baby from his cradle, wraps the two thin blankets Lee has been allotted around his small body, and goes back to his bed. There, Harry carefully lays on his side, scooping Lee as close as he can and wrapping the one thin blanket Harry has been allotted around them both. Harry doesn’t go to sleep that night, too afraid that he’d crush Lee or that the baby would get too cold without him noticing and die. That night is the longest night Harry can ever remember, but each time he wants to close his eyes he just looks at the little bundle in his arms, sniffling and burbling in sleep with one pudgy hand wrapped around Harry’s red hair, and suddenly Harry isn’t so tired any more and can definitely make it till morning.

It’s the first time Harry protects and cares for Lee, but it certainly isn’t the last because after that things fall into a pattern. Lee was placed into Harry’s room because he’s the only orphan that didn’t have a roommate and Harry learns to look at it as fate finally smiling down at him and giving him something precious. So when food gets scarce, and an already tiny Lee seems to shrink on himself and get smaller, Harry first learns to steal, always from civilians who look wealthy enough to survive the minor theft and never from the orphanage or from other children, and then learns to work odd jobs. No one wants to actually pay a little kid, especially one who looks so obviously foreign, so obviously Kumo, but they’ll give him odd little jobs in exchange for a few potatoes or a leftover fish from the market that day. It’s not ideal but it works. 

When Lee’s clothes start to look worn and tear, Harry learns to sew and gives what hand me downs he can to Lee. Harry learns not to live for himself and that in itself is somehow freeing. He’d always had a purpose in his previous life, at least since age eleven, and if he hadn’t had Lee in this new world Harry doubts he would have made it far. He’d been too worn down by war and fighting and struggle. But here, every smile Lee gives him is like a prize and every laugh is a gift and Harry thinks this is what real love might be like. It’s so free and happy and everything he’s ever wanted, because it’s not all one sided.

Sometimes Harry gets sad, he looks at the world and the children going to war and the destruction and he hates himself for not doing something about it. It’s at those times that Lee becomes irreplaceable because he is kind and loving and he shows Harry the way back. Nothing is impossible with Lee. Lee keeps the bullies away from them and he keeps Harry optimistic and he brightens the world with his very existence. Harry may keep them alive physically, but it’s Lee that makes life worth living.

Until Lee turns six at least, because that’s the day everything goes down the drain and never returns. Because Lee had been nervous all day, shifting around and not really looking at Harry. It had been terrifying and unusual and Harry hadn’t been able to keep back his concern. 

“It’s the cake isn’t it?” Harry asked jokingly, reaching out a hand to grab onto Lee’s much lighter one. “You wanted chocolate not vanilla?” he asked, because if that wasn’t the reason then Harry didn’t know what could possibly be wrong.  
“No, Haru!” Lee immediately jumped up, yanking Harry into him in a forceful sort of half-standing hug which was as awkward as it was comforting. “No, everything is perfect,” but there was hesitance in his voice and Harry waited him out. Letting Lee sit again and settling into his side. Somehow Lee had become stronger than Harry over the years, building up muscle and height whereas Harry barely seemed to grow at all. It was nice though, having Lee wrap around him at night, even if it meant that now Harry got Lee’s hand me downs instead of the other way around.

“Don’t hate me,” Lee’s whispered softly into Harry’s hair, playing with the long red strands in a way that was obviously more for Lee’s comfort than Harry’s. 

“Lee,” Harry soothed, leaning back so that he could look up at his best friend and family and everything, “there’s nothing that you could ever do or say to make me hate you.” Because it was true and even if Lee sat on his chest one day and physically carved out his heart Harry would do nothing to stop it because there had been no meaning to anything before Lee. 

“I’m going to the Academy,” Lee said, the words rushing out like he’d been holding them in for a long time, which he must have because getting into the Academy wasn’t easy. It involved tests and time and interviews and Harry couldn’t actually breathe. 

“We have enough money,” Harry found himself gasping out, unsure what other reason Lee could possibly have for becoming a ninja. He’d seen it many times before, orphans joining the Academy because it meant a steady income and guaranteed job, but Harry had thought he’d been doing well enough providing for them. 

“It’s not about money, Haru,” Lee whispered softly and Lee should not sound so grown up, Harry thought deliriously. Lee was all of six years old and too young to sign his life away to war and death and destruction. He was too good for all that. 

“I’ll go,” Harry insisted, because obviously Lee was confused and if he thought they really needed the money then it would be Haru who made the sacrifice. “I’ll go to the Academy and you won’t have to worry about anything, I promise,” Harry whispered, voice so soft and broken Lee almost couldn’t hear it. When he did understand, Lee started protesting, lining up every fact and reason he’d been practicing for months to get Harry to understand.

The one thing he didn’t say, the real truth of the matter, was that Lee needed a way to protect Harry. Harry who was so innocent and so young and so small and he took care of everything for Lee: it was about time Lee started returning the favour. 

They spent the rest of the night talking about it; Harry did his best to dissuade Lee and failed. Lee did his best to soothe Harry’s fears and failed. In the end, Harry cried every day that month, but never in front of Lee, and Lee took his anger out on his training, never mentioning it to Harry. That was one of the longest months of Harry’s life and every day felt like something more broke in him until he wasn't sure how to fix it. How to go back and say something different. 

“Lee!” Harry called out, practically running towards him from down the orphanage hallway. He’d been in the kitchen cooking up an apology lunch for Lee. He’d probably spent far too much of their little budget on it but he hadn’t known what else to do.

“Haru,” Lee sighed, defeated instead of excite and Harry wanted to cringe away from him at the sound. “I’m still going Haru. I want you to be okay with it bu-”

“No, Lee, that’s not,” Harry stopped, and, hand still behind his back, gathered his courage before thrusting the wrapped bento at Lee. “Here,” Harry stated, “just do your best and be careful.”

Lee’s eyes lit up, his anger and pain transforming immediately and without reservation to joy. “Thank you, Haru!” Lee crowed, throwing his arms around Harry and pulling him in close. Harry just had time to move the bento out of the way, his fear melting away as he squeezed Lee back as hard as he could. 

“I’m sorry,” Harry found himself sobbing into Lee’s shoulder, “I’m so sorry.” Except he was apologizing for more than just how he’d been acting. Harry wass apologizing for the innocence Lee would be losing and the pain he would be going through and all the darkness that would filter into his life from now on. Harry was apologizing for being too weak to stop it all and too selfish to join in and protect Lee from what he could. He was apologizing for everything, and it would never be enough.

“It’s okay,” Lee reassured, speaking about more than just that past month and encompassing everything that Harry had ever feared or ever would fear. It would all be alright because Lee would protect the far too innocent and naive boy that had saved his life and gave him meaning. Lee would never let anything bad happen to Harry because Harry was his world and everything good and far too giving for his own good. 

So, Lee went to the Academy and Harry went to a civilian school and Lee came back home injured and Harry learned to patch him up. Lee grew stronger and made more friends and Harry learned to hate the village that raised him, that raised Lee into a killer. Lee never suggested Harry meet his teammates and Harry figured Lee didn’t trust Harry as much as he used to anymore. Harry didn’t ask to know more about Lee’s work as a ninja and Lee figured he’d never be fully forgiven for his transgressions. 

Harry loved Lee more than life itself, so he never pushed and always smiled when Lee came back home. Lee loved Harry more than even the village, so he never made Harry face the fact that Lee really was a ninja with all the dangers that came with it. But Harry never stopped looking for a way out, a way to stop the wars so Lee would be safe again and Lee never stopped trying to find a way to keep Harry safe and happy because he always had to protect the pure heart that kept him going. 

So when the Akatsuki came to Konoha in the dead of night and promised freedom and a warless world, Harry listened and wondered. When Lee heard of the Akatsuki he stood by his village and fought. When the Akatsuki feel, Harry was disappointed, but that was okay, he knew what he needed to do now. He needed revolution, silent and swift and unknown until it was over, he needed peace and now was the perfect time. 

Lee came home every night still after his efforts to rebuild Konoha. Harry welcomed him every time and made small talk about what he had been doing all day, all of it lies. And slowly, but surely, just as Konoha was rebuilt from the ground down, Harry rebuilt it in the image of peace: One village, one mind, one desire, and one perfect world for Lee to live in. 

Finally, Lee was safe and Harry could rest easy.


End file.
